Bottle inspecting device



Mar d1 5, 1940.

-BOTTLE INSPECTING DEVICE Filed March :51, 1957 RWEATHERS 2,192 56 2 Sheets Sheet .1 I

P. WEATHERS BOTTLE INSPECTING DEVICE I March 5,1940.

2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed March 31, 1957 IN V EN TOR.

Patented Mar. 5, 1940 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE Corporation of America ware , a corporation of Dela- Application March 31, 1937, Serial No. 133,998

14 Claims.

This invention relates to an apparatus for inspecting the contents of bottles to ascertain Whether any foreign particles are present therein and pertains more particularly to an amplifier for use in such inspecting devices.' The ampliher is particularly adapted for the inspection of fluted bottles, such as are used for some types of carbonated beverages, although it is also capable of use in conjunction with plain bottles.

It has heretofore been proposed to pass bottles between a light source and a photocell to determine whether they are properly filled, the greater quantity of light being passed if the bottle was not filled, and the photocell giving a corresponding indication or alarm.

It has been more recently proposed to inspect fluted bottles in a similar manner, but a difiiculty was encountered that when a fluted bottle is passed or rotated between a light source and photocell, the flutes in the bottle produce a greater variation in the light than any foreign substances it might be desired to detect. It has been proposed to avoid this difliculty by rotating the bottle until the contents are rotating at a fairly high speed, i. e. around 20 or 30 revolutions per second and then suddenly stopping the bottle, whereupon the light is transmitted for the purpose of inspection. It will be apparent that by this method any flaws in the bottle or irregularities in the bottle surface remain Stationary, not materially affecting the photocell,

while any foreign particles in the rotating contents periodically affect the transmitted light at a speed corresponding to the speed of rotation of the contents. In the practical application of such a device, however, considerable difficulty was encountered due to the peculiar opticalproperties of the bottle which render it extremely difficult to locate small particles of transparent foreign matter. The apparatus in which the present amplifier is incorporated avoids this latter difilculty.

In the apparatus herein described, the flutings n the bottle are used as a portion of the optical system and through the use of proper lenses in conjunction therewith, the light from the source is focused into a narrow line adjacent the interior surface of the bottle where foreign materials tend to be thrown by centrifugal force and any foreign particles interrupting this fine line of light produce a correspondingly great effect upon the photocell.

One of the objects of my invention is to provide an improved bottle inspecting apparatus.

Another object of my invention is to provide an improved amplifier for bottle inspecting apparatus.

Another object of my invention is to provide an improved amplifier having an A. C. input and a D. C. output.

Another object of the invention is to provide an improved D. C. amplifier having a predetermined minimum and maximum response.

Another object of my invention is to provide an improved photocell circuit.

Another object of my invention is to provide an improved optical apparatus wherein balanced photocells are used and wherein the photocell current is amplified by a band-pass A. C. amplifier and used to control a D. C. amplifier.

Other and incidental objects of my invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art from a reading of the following specification and an inspection of the accompanying drawings in which Figure 1 is a side elevation of the apparatus,

Figure 2 is a longitudinal section of the optical system taken along the optical axis thereof and showing a fluted bottle in one position in the apparatus,

Figure 3 shows a fluted bottle in a second position in the apparatus,

Figure 4 is a schematic diagram of the amplifier incorporated in the apparatus, and

Figure 5 is a characteristic curve of the amplifier.

Fig. 6 is a view of a modified form of the apparatus.

Referring to Fig. 1, an appropriate bench or equivalent support is provided, as indicated at In, upon which the apparatus is arranged. This bench is provided with an appropriate power control panel II and houses a motor l2 for rotating the bottle to be inspected. A lamp I3 is provided which has a single coil filament arranged vertically. Light from this coil filament diverges in the normal manner to the lens 14, which is a double convex cylindrical lens with its axis vertical.

This lens permits the light to continue to diverge in a vertical plane but renders it parallel in the horizontal plane, as shown in Fig. 2. A diaphragm l5 restricts this beam to a width corresponding approximately to the width of one of the flutings on the bottle to be inspected. The light passes from this diaphragm l5, as shown in Fig. 2, to the cylindrical lens l6 which has its axis horizontal and which renders the lights'ubstantially parallel in the vertical plane. 'Light passing through the lens l6 passes through a second diaphragm H, which serves to stop any stray light and to mask oil the vortex at the surface of the liquid, and which corresponds in width to the diaphragm l5, and thence to the bottle l8, which is undergoing inspection. Light passing through this bottle l8 goes to the photocell l9. which it aiTects in a manner to be described later. This photocell I9 is shown, in the present instance, as of a type which is generally referred to as a barrier type photocell,

and may be made up of a number of small units, although either the vacuum or gas type of phototube may be used, if desired. The light passing through the diaphragm I'I strikes the flutes on the bottle 18 and if the bottle happens to be in the position shown in Fig. 2, where portions of two flutes fall within the beam, the light is collected to two line-foci 20 and 2| within the bottle. If, on the other hand, the bottle is so located that only one flute happens to be in the path of the beam, the light is directed to a single line focus, as indicated at 2IA in Fig. 3. In either case, however, any small particle passing the light focus will sufficiently affect the photocell to give a positive indication of any foreign material. The apparatus, as built, is so sensitive that in a bottle filled with relatively dark colored fluid, such as the carbonated beverage known commercially as Coca-Cola, a particle of glass about one-thirty-second of an inch in size gives reliable indication and larger objects, such as a fragment of a transparent straw, give a correspondingly greater indication. Any opaque object, of course, such as a cigarette butt, is even more readily detected.

As shown in Fig. 1, the bottles may have an unfluted belt, as indicated, for example, at 22 and it is necessary to focus the light beam within this region at the same relative point as it is focused by the flutes on the bottle, and there is accordingly provided a cylindrical lens 23 having its axis vertical and of such focal length as to focus the light in this region at the point 9 in Fig. 2. The liquid containing bottle itself then acts to condense the light on the photocell.

If the apparatus is to be used for the inspection of unfluted bottles such as l8, Fig. 6, there is substituted for the lens 23 a lens 23' of similar focal length, but of such length as to cover the entire bottle and to thereby focus the beam of light into a line such as indicated at 9 in Fig. 2.

This optical system is the subject matter of an application of Lawrence T. Sachtleben, Serial No. 133,992, filed March 31, 1937, and assigned to the same assignee as the present application.

The apparatus above described requires for its proper operation a special amplifier for interconnecting the photocell and the indicating or control apparatus in order to make the best use of the optical efficiency of the device. This amplifier, which is shown schematically in Fig. 4, will now be described:

The photocell 19, as shown in this figure, is divided into two equal parts, and by a vertical adjustment the current output through these parts may be made equal in accordance with the distribution of illumination in the type of bottles to be tested. By the use of a push-pull arrangement of the two parts of the photocell, it is possible to compensate for any variation in brightness of the lamp l3, as any such variation in brightness, whether continued or intermittent, would affect both photoelectric elements similarly and would therefore produce no effect. Any foreign material in the bottle, however, would necessarily affect the two photocell elements differently, as any such material would have a tendency to stay toward the bottom of the bottle. The output from the photocell I9 is fed to a transformer 40 which in turn feeds it to the grids of a vacuum tube 4|. This tube 4| and also the tubes 42, 43 and 41 are of the type known as 6N! and the characteristics of which are given on pages 92 and 93 of the RCA Receiving Tube Manual, No. RC 13, published 1937 by the RCA Manufacturing Company, Inc. Appropriate grid bias for the tube 4i is obtained by the cathode resistor 48 which preferably has a value of 1000 ohms, as likewise have the resistors 49 and 50 which serve to provide bias for the tubes 42 and 43. An appropriate plate supply for the several tubes is indicated at which unit may be any convenient type of either battery or rectifier filter arrangement and which provides a potential of about 200 volts for the plates of the tubes. The heaters of the tube are heated by an appropriate transformer 52, the heating elements themselves and the connections thereof being, as is customary, not shown. The plate current is fed to the tube 4| through the resistors 53 and 54 which are connected in series with the 22,000 ohm resistor H. The blocking condensers 55 and 56 prevent the power supply source 5| from affecting the grids of the tube 42. An appropriate filter circuit is provided by the resistances 51 and 58 which may be of the order of 20,000 ohms, the inductances 59 and 60 which may have an inductance of the order of 600 henries each and which may, for the sake of convenience, consist of the secondaries of a push-pull transformer having its primary winding left open as shown, and the condensers 6| and 62.

The resistors 53 and 54 may have a resistance of the order of 47,000 ohms. This particular arrangement of resistances and inductances has a tendency to transmit a peak frequency of about 25 cycles per second and to transmit a band lying between about 17 and 40 cycles a second, with a sharp cut off at the latter frequencies, as shown in Fig. 5. The succeeding tube 43 is connected to the tube 42 through a similar filter system, the elements having corresponding values being similarly numbered. The grid leaks 53 of both the tubes 42 and 43 have a resistance of approximately 390,000 ohms. Due to the construction just described, this portion of the amplifier has a definite frequency characteristic such as shown in Fig. 5. In addition to this, the bias produced by the i000 ohm resistors 49 and 50 maintains the tubes at a point of high sensitivity while at the same time the resistance of the grid leaks 63 is so high that on an extremely strong signal the grids go positive and there is no excessive signal output from the tube 43.

From the tube 43 to which plate current is fed in the same manner as the tubes 4| and 42 and which is provided with similar blocking condensers 55 and 56 the current is passed through 5 a transformer 64 to the rectiflers 44 and 45.

A 22 /2 volt battery 65 is provided, across which is located a potentiometer 66, which maintains a potential on the rectifiers 44 and 45 of approximately three volts in a direction opposite to that in which the current tends to pass through the said rectifiers. These two rectifiers may be enclosed within a single casing and may be the type known commercially as the 61-16. described on page 82 of the aforesaid Receiving Tube Manual above referred to.

The tube 41 has its plates connected in parallel and has its grids connected in parallel and normally passes no plate current due to the fact that the voltage drop across the 690,000 ohm resistor of the plate current from the battery 55 to the tube 46 is sufficient to bias this tube to cut-off. However, when a signal slightly in excess of three volts reaches the rectifier-s 44 and 'This potential applied to the grid of the tube 46 causes it to stop passing current, thereby lowering grid bias on the tube 41 and causing the tube 41 to pass sufficient current to actuate the relay 10 across which is shunted a 50,000 ohm protective resistor 12. This relay, in-turn', actuates a power relay which serves to control the indicating or bottle ejectingmechanism.

The sensitivity of the circuit is such that a variation of as much as yiooth of a volt above the amount for which the potentiometer 68 is adjusted will cause the tube 46 to pass current, while there is considerably more voltage than this amount available when any foreign material occurs in the bottle being inspected. On the other hand, as pointed out above, excessively strong signals are prevented from reaching the tube 41 due to the limiting action of the grid resistors 63. The device, accordingly, has not only a very high sensitivity but is highly reliable Having now described my invention, I claim:

1. Apparatus of the class described, including means for causing the contents of a transparent container to rotate, means for passing a beam of light narrower than the container through said container, photoelectric means arranged in the path of said beam of light emerging from said container, an A. C. amplifier connected to said photoelectric means having a band-pass characteristic covering the normal speed ofrotation of said contents and a D. C. amplifier controlled by said A. C. amplifier for actuating a relay. I

g. Apparatus oi' the class described, including means for. causing the contents of a transparent container to rotate, means for passing a beam of light narrower than the container through said container, photoelectric means arranged in the path 01' said beam of light emerging from said container, an A. C. amplifier connected to said photoelectric means having a band-pass characteristic within the normal range 01' variation 01' speed of rotation of said contents and a D. C. amplifier controlled by said A. C. amplifier for actuating a relay.

3. Apparatus of the class described, including means for causing the contents 01' a transparent container to rotate, means for passing a beam of light narrower than the container through said container, photoelectric means arranged in the path oi said beam of light emerging from said container, an A. C. amplifier connected to said photoelectric means having a band-pass characteristic covering the normal speed of rotation of said contents and a D. C. amplifier controlled by said A. C. amplifier for actuating a relay; the said A. C. amplifier including resistors in series with the cathodes or thermionic valves for providing a grid bias and series resistors in the grid circuits. oi said valves. the said grid series resistors having a resistance at least 200 times as great as the said cathode resistors, for determining the response frequency oi said A. C. amplifier.

4. Apparatus of the class described, including means for causing the contents of a transparent container to rotate, means for passing a beam of light narrower than the container through said container, photoelectric means arranged in the path or said beam of light emerging from said container, an A. C. amplifier connected to said photoelectric means having a band-pass characteristic within the normal range of variation of speed of rotation of said contents and a D. C. amplifier controlled by said A. C. amplifier for actuating a relay; the said A. C.

amplifier including resistors inseries with the cathodes of thermionic valves for providing a grid bias and series resistors in the grid circuits of said valves, the said grid series resistors having a resistance at least 200 times as great as the said cathode resistors, for determining the response frequency of said A. C. amplifier.

5. Apparatus of the class described, including means for causing the contents of a transparent container to rotate, means for passing a beam of light narrower than the container through said container, photoelectric means arranged in the path of said beam of light emerging from said container, an A. C. amplifier connected to said photoelectric means having a band-pass characteristic covering the normal speed of rotation of said contents and a D. C. amplifier controlled by said A. C. amplifier for actuating a relay; the said A. C. amplifier including resistors in series with the cathodes of thermionic valves for providing a grid bias and series resistors in the grid circuits of said valves, the said grid series resistors having a resistance of the order of 400 times as great as the said cathode resistors, for determining the response frequency of said A. C. amplifier.

6. Apparatus as defined in claim 1 wherein the photoelectric means includes a pair of balanced photoelectric devices for eliminating effects due to variations in intensity of the light source.

'1. Apparatus as defined in claim v3 wherein the photoelectric means includes a pair of balanced photoelectric devices for eliminating effects due to variations in intensity of the light source.

8. Apparatus as defined in claim 1 wherein the A. C. amplifier is a push-pull amplifier.

9. Apparatus as defined in claim 3 wherein the A. C. amplifier is a push-pull amplifier.

10. Apparatus as defined in claim 1 wherein the photoelectric means includes a pair of balanced photoelectric devices for eliminating eifects' dueao variaticns in intensity of the light source and wherein the ATCr'amplifier is a pushpull amplifier.

11. Apparatus as defined in claim 1 wherein a rectifier is interposed between the A. C. amplifier and the D. C. amplifier. and including means providing an opposing bias on said rectifier whereby the said D. C. amplifier is prevented from responding to output of the A. C. amplifier below a predetermined limit.

12. Apparatus as defined in claim 3 wherein a rectifier is interposed between the A. C. amplifier and the D. C. amplifier and including means providing an opposing bias on said rectifier whereby the said D. C. amplifier is prevented from responding to output or the A. C. amplifier -below a predetermined limit.

13. Apparatus as. defined in claim 1 including a biasing means whereby the last stage of the D. C. amplifier is normally biased to cut-off.

14. Apparatus as defined in claim 3 including a biasing means whereby the last stage of the D. C. amplifier is normally biased to cut-off.

PAUL WEA'I'HERS. 

